"Go on!"
"I'm all ears, my dear."
By this point, Jia Lian was growing even more curious. He leaned forward without thinking, eager to hear what his wife—his spicy little phoenix—had up her sleeve, or what brilliant plan she had concocted that could make his celestial cousin agree so easily.
But honestly, in Jia Lian's opinion, his cousin Baoyu was a terrible match—at least for Lin Daiyu. The fellow was simply no good. Even Jia Lian was far better than he was!
Jia Lian was only a little too fond of women, with a few minor flaws now and then. For instance, he was always eager to sit and chat intimately with other people's young wives, unmarried daughters, or maidservants. Sometimes he would visit brothels or flower boats to listen to a few songs. Aside from that, he had nothing but virtues.
Take social dealings and career advancement, for example. He had some skill in both. These days, he handled most of the Jia family's external affairs and social obligations, and over all these years, he had never let anything go seriously wrong.
If he already had Wang Xifeng as his wife and were not a little older, then when it came to the good fortune of marrying a brilliant woman like Lin Daiyu, how could Baoyu, that good-for-nothing, possibly have had a chance?
In any case, Jia Lian was the eldest grandson of the main branch. Unless something unexpected happened, he would inherit the title of Rongguo Mansion. What did his cousin Baoyu have besides the Old Lady's doting affection?
Of course, no matter how little he thought of Baoyu, he couldn't say any of that aloud, much less try to stop the marriage. The Jia family, which he was now in charge of, genuinely needed a Jia-Lin alliance.